The parents of a woman who tragically took her own life after waiting 1,023 days to be seen at controversial Tavistock Clinic have hit out at the NHS 20-year waiting list for transgender patients.
Alice Litman had been waiting three years for an initial consultation at the clinic when she killed herself in May 2022, an inquest into her death heard.
She had been referred for gender affirming healthcare in August 2019 but was still waiting for an initial consultation at the Tavistock Centre in London when she died.
Coroner Sarah Clarke said the services available to the transgender community in this country were ‘underfunded and insufficiently resourced’.
She said the training of people caring for transgender patients, the lack of mental healthcare and the long waiting lists for treatment all need to be examined.
Alice Litman (pictured) who had waited nearly three years to discuss transitioning before tragically taking her own life
Alice (pictured) had been referred for gender-affirming healthcare in August 2019 but was still waiting for an initial consultation at the Tavistock Centre in London when she died
There are currently more than 13,000 people on the waiting list for a first appointment at the Tavistock Centre’s Gender Identity Clinic (GIC).
Rising numbers of transgender patients across the UK mean that someone requesting treatment today would have to wait more than 20 years to be seen, the director of the Tavistock Centre, Dr James Barrett, said.
He said: ‘There are very very many people with remarkably similar situations to Alice.
‘The size of the population we’re dealing with, the services aren’t big enough.’
The inquest at Sussex County Cricket Ground in Hove heard Alice, of Leatherhead, Surrey had suffered from anxiety and low moods and as a teenager.
She had been referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) where she had taken part in group therapy.
In September 2018, Alice told her sister Kate that she felt she wanted to live her life as a woman.
She had an appointment with a GP where she told the doctor about her gender identity problems.
Her mother, Dr Caroline Litman, a former NHS psychiatrist, told the inquest the doctor suggested a ‘watch and wait’ approach and did not make a referral to the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS).
It wasn’t until after her first suicide attempt in June 2019 that Alice was finally referred for treatment at GIDS.
When she turned 18 in February 2020 the referral was transferred to the adult Gender Identity Clinic (GIC) at the Tavistock Clinic.
Due to the severe delays in referral her family paid for private counselling to help support her mentally.
They also sought help from GenderGP – a private service aimed at supporting transgender patients – and Alice began taking cross-sex hormone therapy.
Pictures show Alice as a child with father, Peter. The family continued to try and find private gender care for Alice but on a visit home in Easter 2022
Coroner Sarah Clarke said the services available to the transgender community in this country were ‘underfunded and insufficiently resourced’. (Pictured, family photo of Alice Litman, 20)
In September 2018 Alice told her sister, Kate, that she felt she wanted to live her life as a woman and went for an appointment with another GP where she told the doctor about her gender identity problems
Attending the inquest with Dr Litman were Alice’s father, Peter and brother and sister, Harvey and Kate.
Outside court, the family said the lack of treatment on for transgender patients and the long waiting lists on the NHS amounted to ‘transphobia’.
Dr Litman said: ‘We believe the rulings we are going to hear are going to bring about much-needed change throughout the NHS and all systems involved in the care of Trans people in part we are delighted the extent of the wait list has finally been acknowledged.
‘My daughter was failed by the NHS and I don’t want other parents to lose their daughter.’
However, the hearing was told the outbreak of the Covid pandemic made seeking further treatment or surgery impossible.
Dr Litman said: ‘Lockdown was another barrier to Alice getting appropriate care.’
In September 2021 Alice moved from her family home in Surrey to Brighton where she lived with a close friend.
The family continued to try and find private gender care for Alice but were told that rising numbers on NHS waiting lists had left private providers swamped.
Alice was found suffering from multiple injuries on the Undercliff Walk, near Roedean School in Brighton in the early hours of May 26, 2022.
The coroner said she would be considering writing a Prevention of Future Deaths Report.
Alice with her mother, Caroline. Despite the suicide attempts in June and December 2019 she still struggled to receive the gender care and mental health support she needed, an inquest heard
Ms Clarke said: ‘This is an important inquest. Some of the issues raised are extremely important in today’s society not just here in Brighton and Hove but across the world.
‘It’s not about apportioning blame. One of the most difficult aspects is detaching from the emotion involved.
‘All of these services are underfunded and insufficiently resourced for the level of need in our society.’
She said she wanted to examine the knowledge and training offered to those caring for transgender patients, the lack of provision of mental healthcare and the long waiting lists.
She adjourned the hearing for two weeks but added she would be making a narrative finding of the death of Alice.
Alice’s father Peter Litman said: ‘To know something is there and not do something about it is an act of aggression. It’s very, very sad.’
Dr Litman said: ‘Transgender people are hung out to dry. Alice was a smart, intelligent young person and she could see that no one was taking care of her, that no one cared. What does a 20-year wait list say about how important you are?’
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